Arirang
Digital and group red vinyl cover
Studio album by
BTS
Released March 20, 2026
Recorded July–November 2025
Length 41:13
Language
  • English
  • Korean
Label Big Hit
Producer
  • Sarah Aarons
  • Sean Cook
  • Toby Daintree
  • Artemas Diamandis
  • Diplo
  • Donut
  • El Guincho
  • Fakeguido
  • Flume
  • Ghstloop
  • Jasper Harris
  • Sam Homaee
  • Tyler Johnson
  • Leclair
  • Mike Will Made-It
  • Nitti
  • Kevin Parker
  • Pdogg
  • Picard Brothers
  • Pluss
  • Khaled Rohaim
  • Tyler Spry
  • Ryan Tedder
  • Kevin White
  • Y2K
BTS chronology
Permission to Dance on Stage – Live
(2025)		 Arirang
(2026)
Singles from Arirang
  1. "Swim"
    Released: March 20, 2026

Arirang (stylized in all caps) is the fifth Korean-language and tenth overall studio album by South Korean boy band BTS.[a] It was released on March 20, 2026, by Big Hit Music.[3] The album is the group's first release since they went on hiatus for each member to complete their military service.[4] It follows their live album Permission to Dance on Stage – Live (2025) and marks their first studio album in nearly six years, following Be (2020). Arirang was written and composed with a variety of notable musicians, including Diplo, Jasper Harris, Kevin Parker, Mike Will Made-It, Artemas, and JPEGMafia, among others.

To promote the album, BTS is set to embark on the Arirang World Tour, scheduled from April 2026 to March 2027.[5]

Background and release

On June 14, 2022, BTS announced that they would be temporarily suspending their group activities to focus more on solo projects.[6][7] All members would later enlist in South Korea's mandatory military service[8] from December 2022[9] to June 2025.[10] In the interim, each member would release a solo project: J-Hope released his album Jack in the Box (2022) and EP Hope on the Street Vol. 1 (2024), RM released his albums Indigo (2022) and Right Place, Wrong Person (2024), Jimin released his albums Face (2023) and Muse (2024), Suga released his album D-Day (2023), V released his EP Layover (2023), Jung Kook released his album Golden (2023), and Jin released his EPs Happy (2024) and Echo (2025).

BTS shared that they had begun to work together in July 2025, and on August 22, RM shared through Weverse that the band was "working diligently" on their new album.[11][12] On November 1, 2025, Jimin told fans that the album was finished and ready for release.[13]

On New Year's Eve 2025, fans in South Korea with Gold Member status received a postcard teasing the date of the group's comeback.[14] On January 4, 2026, Big Hit Music announced the group's comeback with an album, accompanied by a world tour.[15] The title was later revealed on January 15, referencing the Korean folk song of the same name.[16][17] Big Hit Music stated Arirang "captures BTS' identity as a group that began in Korea".[18] On March 3, BTS revealed the album's track listing and production credits, with the seventh track "Swim" highlighted in black.[19][20]

Promotion

Marketing

On February 14, thousands of roses were distributed throughout major cities like Seoul, London, and Los Angeles. The installations included QR codes, and signs that asked, "What is your love song?".[21] They partnered with Google Search to launch a scavenger hunt feature on March 4, with additional sealed quests being unlocked on March 9 and 16.[22][23] Searching for "BTS" gave rise to a graphic of a blue ship in a bottle, which, upon being clicked, launched a series of trivia questions themed around the group to earn parchment cards with handwritten song titles by the members.[24][25] On March 10, BTS and Spotify announced their "Swimside" partnership campaign, which includes pop-up events worldwide, in-app experiences and exclusive material from the group.[26] BTS: The Return, a documentary on the making of the album will be premiered on March 27, 2026.[27]

Live performances

The group held a concert, entitled BTS The Comeback Live | Arirang, at Gwanghwamun Square on March 21, 2026. The concert was exclusively streamed on Netflix, marking the first time a concert was streamed live on the platform as opposed to being taped as a concert film.[27]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source Rating
AnyDecentMusic? 8.2/10[28]
Metacritic 89/100[29]
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic StarStarStarStarHalf star[30]
Associated Press StarStarStarStar[31]
Clash 8/10[32]
Consequence B+[33]
The Guardian StarStarStarStar[34]
Rolling Stone StarStarStarStarHalf star[35]
The Telegraph StarStarStarStar[36]
View of the Arts StarStarStarStarStar[37]

According to the review aggregator Metacritic, Arirang received "universal acclaim" based on a weighted average score of 89 out of 100 from four critic scores.[29] The review aggregator AnyDecentMusic? gave the album a weighted average score of 8.2 out of 10 from five critic scores.[28]

Michael Cragg from The Guardian wrote in his four-star review: "At 14 songs, things tail off slightly as themes start to duplicate... On Arirang, they've made an album that makes good on their status as the planet's biggest pop phenomenon, and that's more than enough."[34] In an 8 out of 10 review, Clash's Maria Letícia L. Gomes writes: "The fourteen tracks make for a more mature body of work – one that trades the glossy, slightly on-the-nose singles of 'Butter' or 'Dynamite' for something more layered."[32] Wren Graves from Consequence gave the album a B+ score, writing that "the album feels more often like seven individuals with real chemistry than one polished unit. The solo years gave each member a sharper creative identity... Arirang is the first attempt by those identities to share a room again."[33] In a positive review, Pyo Kyung-min writes in The Korea Times that "Arirang unfolds less like a collection of stand-alone singles and more like a carefully sequenced story. Its dramatic progression suggests a collective intent to connect the past with the future through sincerity rather than abstraction."[38] In his four-star review for The Telegraph, Ed Power writes "[BTS] are back to reassert their dominance with a maximalist record brimming with monster-truck grooves and choruses so vast and glittering you could probably detect them from outer space."[36] In a positive review for The New York Times, Jon Caramanica wrote that "Arirang doesn’t pander, and it doesn’t overwhelm. Rather, it feels borderline experimental, as close to risky as a project engineered for minimal risk can be."[39]

Commercial performance

Arirang's fourteen tracks filled the top fourteen spots of Spotify's global top fifty chart on its first day. On the service's United States chart, twelve of the album's tracks appeared in the top twenty-six spots. The album received a total of 110 million streams on the service, making for the most first-day Spotify streams for any 2026 album so far. On Apple Music, the album broke the record for most first-day streams for a pop group's album.[40]

Track listing

Arirang track listing
No. Title Writer(s) Producer(s) Length
1. "Body to Body"
  • Ryan Tedder
  • Maxime Picard
  • Thomas Pentz
  • Akira Evans
  • Teezo Touchdown
  • Pdogg
  • RM
  • Suga
  • J-Hope
  • Kirsten Spencer
  • Picard Brothers
  • Diplo
  • Tedder
  • Pdogg[p]
 3:09
2. "Hooligan"
  • Pablo Diaz Reixa
  • Michel Magne
  • Pablo Martinez Alborch
  • Marcus Lomax
  • Xplicit
  • Jung Kook
  • Delacey
  • Jasper Harris
  • RM
  • J-Hope
  • Suga
  • Derrick Milano
  • Pdogg
  • Spencer
  • El Guincho
  • Fakeguido
  • Harris
  • Ghstloop[v]
 3:02
3. "Aliens"
  • Michael Williams II
  • RM
  • Asheton Hogan
  • Brandon Bell
  • Khaled Rohaim
  • Charles Hinshaw
  • Jean Marcel Day Jr.
  • James Essein
  • J-Hope
  • Jung Kook
  • Suga
  • John Mitchell
  • Milano
  • Pdogg
  • Mike Will Made-It
  • Pluss
  • Donut
  • Rohaim
  • Pdogg[v]
 2:47
4. "Fya"
  • JPEGMafia
  • Gregory Aldae Hein
  • Kurtis Wells
  • Pentz
  • RM
  • Jung Kook
  • Richard Mears IV
  • Harley Streten
  • Suga
  • Diplo
  • Flume
  • Nitti
 3:00
5. "2.0"
  • Williams
  • Hogan
  • Atia Boggs
  • Hinshaw
  • RM
  • J-Hope
  • V
  • Jung Kook
  • Mitchell
  • Milano
  • Pdogg
  • Suga
  • Mike Will Made-It
  • Pluss
 2:49
6. "No. 29"     1:38
7. "Swim"
  • Essein
  • Sean Foreman
  • Tyler Spry
  • Jamison Baken
  • Tedder
  • RM
  • Spencer
  • Milano
  • Pdogg
2:39
8. "Merry Go Round"
  • Sam Homaee
  • Sarah Aarons
  • Hein
  • Kevin Parker
  • RM
  • Suga
  • J-Hope
  • Milano
  • Pdogg
3:49
9. "Normal"
  • Foreman
  • Livvi Franc
  • Tedder
  • Sean Cook
  • RM
  • J-Hope
  • Suga
  • Spencer
  • Milano
  • Pdogg
3:01
10. "Like Animals"
  • Pentz
  • Artemas Diamandis
  • Toby Daintree
  • Jesse Fink
  • Kevin White
  • RM
  • Spencer
  • Beau Nox
  • Diplo
  • Diamandis
  • Daintree
  • White
 3:09
11. "They Don't Know 'Bout Us"
  • Pdogg
  • Ghstloop
  • Ari Starrace
  • Rug
  • Wells
  • Jimin
  • RM
  • Suga
  • J-Hope
  • Pdogg
  • Ghstloop
  • Y2K
 2:44
12. "One More Night"
  • Pentz
  • Pdogg
  • Nox
  • Mears
  • RM
  • Suga
  • J-Hope
  • Ant Clemons
  • Diplo
  • Pdogg
  • Nitti
 2:47
13. "Please"
  • Spry
  • Essein
  • Tedder
  • RM
  • Suga
  • J-Hope
 Spry[p] 2:52
14. "Into the Sun"
  • Pdogg
  • Pentz
  • V
  • Jimin
  • Touchdown
  • Ki-An Dee Kambaran
  • Mears
  • Tyler Johnson
  • Ghstloop
  • RM
  • Suga
  • J-Hope
  • Pdogg
  • Diplo
  • Johnson
  • Nitti
  • Ghstloop
 3:47
Total length: 41:13

Notes

  • ^[p] denotes someone credited for both primary and vocal production.
  • ^[v] denotes a vocal producer.
  • "Swim", "Fya" and "Normal" are stylized in all caps.
  • "They Don't Know 'Bout Us" is stylized in lowercase.
  • "Body to Body" contains an interpolation of "Arirang".[32]

Personnel

Credits adapted from Tidal.[41]

Musicians

  • BTS – vocals (all tracks except track 6)
    • Jung Kook – background vocals (tracks 1–5, 7–10, 12–14)
    • V – background vocals (tracks 2, 14)
    • J-Hope – background vocals (tracks 3, 5)
    • RM – background vocals (tracks 3, 5, 8, 11–13)
    • Suga – background vocals (tracks 3, 5)
    • Jimin – background vocals (track 11)
  • Picard Brothers – bass, drum programming, synthesizer (track 1)
  • Ryan Tedder – bass, drum programming, synthesizer (track 1); drums, keyboards, programming (track 9); background vocals (track 13)
  • Pdogg – drum programming (track 1); keyboards, programming (track 11); synthesizer (track 12); bass (track 14)
  • Akira Akira – synthesizer (track 1)
  • Diplo – synthesizer (track 1); drums, programming (tracks 4, 12, 14)
  • Teezo Touchdown – background vocals (track 1)
  • El Guincho – programming, bass, drum programming, sampler, synthesizer (track 2)
  • Fakeguido – drum programming (track 2)
  • Jasper Harris – programming, sampler (track 2)
  • Daoud – piano (track 2)
  • Ghstloop – sampler (track 2); drums, keyboards, programming, synthesizer (track 11)
  • Mike Will Made-It – drum programming, keyboards (tracks 3, 5); synthesizer (track 5)
  • Pluss – drum programming, keyboards (tracks 3, 5); synthesizer (track 5)
  • Donut – synthesizer (track 3)
  • Khaled Rohaim – synthesizer (track 3)
  • Flume – drums, programming (track 4)
  • Nitti – drums, programming (tracks 4, 12, 14); synthesizer (tracks 4, 12); bass, guitar (track 14)
  • Leclair – bass, drum programming, guitar, keyboards, violin (track 7)
  • Tyler Spry – drum programming, guitar, keyboards, synthesizer, background vocals (tracks 7, 13); bass (track 13)
  • Joseph Manning Jr. – keyboards (tracks 7, 13), synthesizer (track 7), piano (track 13)
  • James Essein – background vocals (tracks 7, 13)
  • Sarah Aarons – synthesizer, background vocals (track 8)
  • Kevin Parker – bass, guitar, synthesizer (track 8)
  • Sam Homaee – drums, guitar, synthesizer (track 8)
  • Aldae – background vocals (track 8)
  • Derrick Milano – background vocals (track 8)
  • Sean Cook – drums, guitar, keyboards, programming (track 9)
  • Toby Daintree – bass, guitar, keyboards, synthesizer (track 10)
  • Kevin White – drum programming (track 10)
  • Y2K – synthesizer (track 11)
  • Phillip A. Peterson – cello (track 13)
  • Alisa Zayalith – background vocals (track 13)
  • Dawson Daugherty – background vocals (track 13)
  • Tyler Johnson – drums, programming (track 14)
  • Ryan Scott – guitar (track 14)
  • Kaien Cruz – background vocals (track 14)

Technical

  • Mike Bozzi – mastering
  • Mark "Spike" Stent – mixing (tracks 1, 10–11, 13–14)
  • Kieran Beardmore – assistant mixing (tracks 1, 10–11, 13–14)
  • Manny Marroquin – mixing (tracks 2, 13)
  • Chris Galland – assistant mixing (tracks 2, 13)
  • Francesco Di Giovanni – assistant mixing (tracks 2, 13)
  • Ramiro Fernandez-Seoane – assistant mixing (tracks 2, 13)
  • Jaycen Joshua – mixing (tracks 3, 5)
  • Chris Bhikoo – assistant mixing (tracks 3, 5)
  • Jacob Richards – assistant mixing (tracks 3, 5)
  • Mike Seaberg – assistant mixing (tracks 3, 5)
  • Tom Norris – mixing (track 4)
  • Serban Ghenea – mixing (tracks 7–8)
  • Bryce Bordone – assistant mixing (tracks 7–8)
  • Jack Normile – assistant mixing (track 8)
  • Pdogg – recording engineering (tracks 1–5, 7–9, 11–14), vocal arrangement (track 1–5, 7, 9–14),
  • Ghstloop – recording engineering (tracks 2, 8, 10, 11), vocal arrangement (tracks 2, 8, 11)
  • Ryan Tedder – recording engineer (track 9)
  • Sean Cook – recording engineer (track 9)
  • Owen Stoutt – recording engineer (track 14)

Release history

Region Date Format(s) Version Label Ref.
Various March 20, 2026
  • CD
  • vinyl LP
  • digital download
  • streaming
 Standard Big Hit [42]
April 3, 2026 Vinyl LP Deluxe [43]

Notes

  1. ^ Big Hit counts Arirang as BTS' fifth Korean-language album, excluding Be, which is counted as an EP.[1][2]

References

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